Amsterdam, Netherlands July 11th Two blogs mention seeing Amazing Race teams.First blog: *We just got done with a walking tour of Amsterdam. Unfortunately it was not as good as the Berlin tour but it was still very interesting. We think we saw some participants from the Amazing Race running through town with a cameraman and sound guy following close behind.Next Blog:*I saw to 3 pairs that were competing in my reality favorite show ďthe amazing raceĒBoingo -- evidence for Amsterdam from the intro flash thread!! Dutch Rail Netherlands

tvguide~*A pole-vaulting challenge in the Netherlands. Phil Keoghan is the host.

Webclues~Sunday, November 11, 9pm et/ptNext Episode*One Racer strips down to mud-filled briefs during a pole-vaulting Roadblock, giving the Netherlands a first-hand view of a muddy American potbelly. *Meanwhile another Racer finally stands up to her Teammate forcing them to realize there are problems in their relationship that need to be fixed.

Teams leave Ireland for the Netherlands! :bar:RailsBoingo: The girls appear to be running past a train which may be "Sprinter" livery (railway stock). :bar:Where the Goth are we?Colby: I believe that pic with the Goth's running is towards this area Church of St.Nicolas is on the Prins Hendrikkade.:bar:DETOURS

Slowhatch:At Werengouw, take the bus to Durgerdam/Ransdrop get a clue Ron & Christina Sisters wait for the bus with Christina & Ron and pray the Ministers don't make it.* Meanwhile another Racer finally stands up to her Teammate forcing them to realize there are problems in their relationship that need to be fixed.Christina & Ron argue "vacillate --where did we lose time?"

:bar: Roadblock*SEVERAL TEAMS TAKE A MUD BATH WHEN FACED WITH AN ACROBATIC ROADBLOCK IN HOLLAND,*One Racer strips down to mud-filled briefs during a pole-vaulting Roadblock, giving the Netherlands a first-hand view of a muddy American potbelly. *Racers struggle to complete a challenging Roadblock that requires Teams to pole-vault a stream in order to receive their next clue

Teams must ride a Bakfiet to the pitstop peach: Durgerdam-- Ransdorp Church--RoadblockPitstop --Jachthaven DurgerdamChateauJason=RB/Lorena with Shana in the background doing the RB.

The Dutch also invented the sport of pole vaulting. The original Dutch version, though, is very different from the familiar Olympic one. A tall pole is stood upright in the middle of a canal. The competitor then runs up to the canalside, jumps on the pole, shimmies as quickly as possible to the top and hurls himself forward as the pole falls towards the other side of the canal. The person who reaches the furthest distance from the bank wins.

The Dutch also invented the sport of pole vaulting. The original Dutch version, though, is very different from the familiar Olympic one. A tall pole is stood upright in the middle of a canal. The competitor then runs up to the canalside, jumps on the pole, shimmies as quickly as possible to the top and hurls himself forward as the pole falls towards the other side of the canal. The person who reaches the furthest distance from the bank wins.

"Another Frisian practice is fierljeppen, a sport with some similarities to pole vaulting. A jump consists of an intense sprint to the pole (polsstok), jumping and grabbing it, then climbing to the top while trying to control the pole's forward and lateral movements over a body of water and finishing with a graceful landing on a sand bed opposite to the starting point. Because of all the diverse skills required in fierljeppen, fierljeppers are considered to be very complete athletes with superbly developed strength and coordination. Another interesting feature are the many windmills. There are 195 windmills in the province of Friesland, from a total of about 1200 in the entire country."

In a PinP which isn't very clear, Jennifer in her green sweat shirt with the white windbreaker tied around her waist, is using a long pole to vault over a water-filled ditch. There are people behind her, and some others across the ditch. No idea what this is about. Don't recognize any of the people.I just saw the tvguide post on the thread for ep two in the Netherlands. Could this be what Jennifer is doing? Not quite as athletic as the one shown, but it seems to match. And makes more sense because it doesn't fit in ep one.

Quick shot of Jason peddling a bike with a cart in front. Lorena is sitting in the cart holding what looks like travel instructions. Looks like Aran but could be somewhere else in Ireland. The have their backpacks with them.

Thanks to the oh so lovely Dreamer @ Jokers!! and thanks to Gman for the heads up! No pole vaulting but the Bike shot of Lorena & Jason!

Yes, but I think he really means only the elmination of the 30 minute penalties associated with a last-place Marked-For-Elimination. He surely can't mean penalties for exceeding the speed limit by 50 km/hr. or for stealing another team's vehicle or other transgressions that had caused them in the past. You always have to wonder when Bertram says anything about an in-the-can Amazing Race because of his track record for not getting all of the nuances just right. He is obviously a Big Picture kind of guy, appropriate to create and produce this type of show but not the person you necessarily want talking to the media.